What is a Séance?
I once conducted a séance with a small group of paranormal researchers working in a particularly haunted hotel in Maryland. The research team worked with a medium to call forward the spirits of a location through using tools such as the Ouija board, pendulum bottles, and finally utilizing deep trance. At first the contact was slow, only the swaying of pendulums inside their sealed bottles illuminated by flickering candlelight betrayed any hint of spirit presence. However, soon the building creaked with the sounds of soft footsteps, the air grew chill, and the Ouija board began to bring messages for the guests.
The evening reached its crescendo as our medium sat in trance, her face illuminated by a single candle, and she began to receive names, answers to questions, and stories from what seemed to be another place and time. As she spoke, it seemed as if her face shifted in the light, from that of a young woman, to that of a grandmotherly figure, to that of a small boy, to that of a bespectacled man. Slowly the stream of voices coming from the medium receded, and her face became hers once more. The candles burned more brightly, and the room felt warmer almost instantly. There was a real sense of connection with something larger than this world on that night.
The medium was none other than my wife Kat, the séance one of the first we attended as consultants on the power of the séance in paranormal investigations.
The term séance is shrouded in mystery, intrigue, and maybe even feeling of fear depending on your background and reference materials. Often, when I tell someone that Kat and I are leading séance practitioners, or that we host séance s for the public, I am met with many questions asking just what the séance is and how they work.
In short, a séance is any ritualized meeting with the intent to reach beyond this plane and contact the spirits of the departed. The term, a French word, literally translates to “a meeting” or “a session”, and this is an apt description! We meet with each other, and hopefully meet with spirits to find answers to questions or rebuild our tenuous connections to the realm beyond this one.
In the year 1848, Kate and Maggie Fox, sisters from rural New York, set the world alight with their unique form of spirit communication. In answer to the sisters’ questions, spirits would respond by making bangs, knocks, and raps sound out. This was the beginning of the archetypical “one knock for yes, two knocks for no” style of spirit communication, and within a few months of going public with their unique abilities, the Fox sisters were performing sold out theatre shows on both sides of the Atlantic. They represented an exciting and bold new future where women were at the center of a spiritual movement, and in positions of authority as mediums channeled spirits which often promoted suffragist and abolitionist causes. In their wake, the spiritualist movement grew to become one of the most popular religious groups of its era.
The spiritualist movement was further bolstered by high-profile supporters like author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, author L. Frank Baum, first-lady Mary Todd Lincoln and her husband, as well as ardent detractors such as Harry Houdini. Perhaps due to the trauma visited upon the nation from both the American Civil War, and later the first World War, the séance and its trappings bled into the lives of ordinary Americans. As individuals looked for new ways to contact those lost in these great conflicts, items such as the spirit boards would find a home in private forays into the beyond. Eventually, the medium would leave behind the cloistered séance room, and conduct séances in the comfort of individuals homes, without formalized services. New traditions and customs would emerge around the séance, resulting in an eclectic blend of practices for holding a séance.
The exact methodology of the séance varies by institution, denomination, and intent. For example, the modern spiritualist séance can look remarkably like that of a Sunday morning church service, while the Victorian séance may take place around a table with a medium, spirit board, and by candlelight. Shamanistic séance s may incorporate traditional elements for that geographic location and belief system. However, these events are all held for the same purpose: reaching beyond this world and into the next
While stories of séance s in movies or television often inspire terror or fear, they are often healing experiences for all parties involved. Often, séances are deeply interesting, even entertaining events that connect with a sense of our lineage and our humanity. Séance s remind us of death, but also can teach us what it means to be alive, offer us hope that spirit or consciousness survives the passing of the body, and can inspire us with wonder and provide us with hope. While séance s can be unsafe if performed haphazardly or with a poor facilitator, a skilled host will ensure that even the spookiest happenings are transformative and empowering. Most importantly, an effective séance host will ensure that the séance is an exciting exploration into the beyond!